Time
by SiriusMarauderFan
Summary: Alice made a mistake, and now she has to fix it. Soulmate!AU


**Author's Note:** Written for…

Romance Awareness. _Prompt:_ You have your soulmate's name on one arm and your enemy's on the other.

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 **Time**

 _790 words_

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Alice spent her seventeenth birthday with the Sisters of Quiet Mercy.

She watched the minutes tick down by the moonlight streaming through her window, never blinking. When midnight finally struck, Alice felt the warm tingling through her forearms just as she expected to. Looking down, she found two names inscribed on her skin in black lettering.

Forsythe Jones II

Harold Cooper

Alice looked at the names in turn and shook her head. Of course it would be them. Her life already revolved around the two men, and now it seemed like she was destined to be ruined by them - her soulmate and her enemy.

But which was which?

She let her eyes linger on FP's name, thinking of her dashing, dark-haired best friend. FP had been by her side during some of the worst times in her life. When she broke her leg in second grade, during her father's untimely death, every fight with her mother. FP had been her hero, but she also knew from the swelling of her stomach that he could be her downfall. Hadn't he been the one to bring her into the Serpents? The reason she got arrested?

She turned to her right arm, to Hal's name. He was simple, sweet and attentive. He didn't come with all the baggage and complications like FP. Alice could easily see the perfect, white picket fence life they could have together.

When she really thought about it, there was no question about who her soulmate was. It would be hard, but she had to cut FP out of her life. The soulmark only proved what she already knew, that their relationship was toxic.

:-:

So much had happened in the past few months to make Alice question the assumption she had made on her seventeenth birthday, but every kind gesture from FP or argument with Hal could be undone so quickly that it left her head spinning and right back where she started.

But with the memory of Hal's fingers wrapped around her throat clear in her mind, it was clear to see he had been her enemy all along, which left the situation with her real soulmate up in the air.

Could she go to him after pushing him away time and time again, knowing that he may choose to turn her away too?

But the house was too empty with Betty back at school, and she couldn't take it. Too much evil had touched that house and Alice needed to get out before it drove her crazy.

She had only intended to drive around for a while to clear her head, but she found herself at the trailer park all the same. There was no turning back then, not when FP's bike was parked out front and he was so close.

In a few moments she was sat at his table with a beer in her shaking hands because he'd decided with a glance at her puffy eyes that she needed a drink. He wasn't wrong.

"Something I can do for you?" FP asked, leaning back in his chair.

"I want a second chance," she admitted quietly, staring down at his name on her arm. Usually Alice wore long sleeves to cover the soulmarks, ashamed of her past, whereas FP almost always had her name on display. "I made a lot of mistakes… pushing you away was the first."

She risked looking at him and turned away just as quickly, unable to handle his gaze.

"Why now? Because Hal's in jail, or-"

"No. Maybe?" She ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "I never stopped loving you. Hal was just … the safe option. Obviously I was out of my mind to not see the warning signs, to realize what he was." She stood and began to pace the length of the living room. "My name is on your arm, FP, that has to mean something, right? We we're supposed to be happy."

He scoffed, shaking his head. "Maybe we could have been but a lot's changed since we were teenagers, Alice. We're married, and there's Jug and Betty to think about."

She nodded, scared that it was over. "Just please consider it. I don't want to lose you again."

FP came to stand in front of her. He brushed back a lock of hair and cupped her face. "You're not going to lose me. This is just going to take some time. I don't want to rush into anything."

"You're right," she said, trying to contain her excitement. Everything else in her life might have been broken, but as least she had a chance of fixing this. And if it meant having FP in her life again, she could be patient for a little while.


End file.
